How cool is that!!! Well, I've never seen anything like that up close, but I have seen other birds chasing hawks - but usually way up in the sky, not in the backyard. Wish I had a hawk! We had a great horned owl for a while, till I think it got tired of us messing around in the backyard.

A few months ago, a redtail hawk dropped out of the sky into my neighbor's backyard in Justin!!! He missed that yappie little dog. I've seen a great horned owl swoop in on a cat (I spooked him at the last second).

It is awesome!! No domestic animals were harmed in the making of those two memories. ; - )

We have a red tail hawk that hangs around here. Every now and then he'll score.

I've never noticed any birds chasing him though.

If I'm outside I can always tell when he's around. The bird chatter has a sudden increase and then sudden silence. The squirrels dive for cover.

Every now and then I'll glance out the back window and think it looks like it is snowing right under the live oaks. Then I realize its not snow, its feathers and I know the hawk is up there.

I have a resident red-shouldered hawk. He started out as a newbie, and has grown rather large. Returns each summer.
Sometimes he sits on the framework on the porch, that supports a canopy. Always shocks me when I step out the door and he flies.

Never seen him grab an animal, but I've heard it. Lots of screaming (squirrels?)

I did see a crow take a baby rabbit. I heard screaming and a crow pulled the bunny out of a woodpile and flew off rather low. The mother bunny was running behind him on her hind legs trying to hit the crow. The crowgained enough altitude to clear a 4' fence and flew over my head too high for me to whack him. He flew into the woods and I tried not to think about what happened then.

"The mother bunny was running behind him on her hind legs trying to hit the crow." That would be a sight to see!

Crows and mockingbirds often chase hawks, so they might have been who was chasing your hawk. No telling, though. I don't think of whitewing doves as small, but neither are crows. I'd guess mockingbirds.

Txgardenlady, your story reminded me of an incident that happened several years ago across the street from where I work. There used to be a prairie that supported lots of wildlife, including meadowlarks and killdeers among other prairie birds, rabbits, and, of course, as a result, predator birds such as hawks and shrikes. One day there was a man on a tractor mower mowing the field. A hawk dropped down in front of him and snatched a bunny that had probably been scared out by the tractor. Anyway, the man tried to save the bunny from the hawk, and caused the hawk to drop the bunny. He brought the bunny to us to try to save, but it was obviously a lost cause. Even though the bunny didn't appear injured, he died a short time later due to shock, I assume, and possibly internal injuries. As a result of this man's good intentions, the hawk missed out on a meal for him/herself and possibly for her babies, and the bunny died anyway. There's just no use trying to save bunnies from predators. So, don't feel bad that you weren't able to save the bunny you saw.

Another time, much more recent, I was sitting at my desk at work, which faces our very large front display window. There are trees and shrubs just outside the window that sparrows like to roost in. All of the sudden, I heard a whap, whap, whap whap, whap, whap whap, whap, whap, sound in rapid succession and look up to see a few dozen sparrows hitting the window at the same time. What the...? I thought, and my boss said the same thing. Just at that moment, a hawk flew up from one of the bushes, after the sparrows. Aha, that explained it. While we weren't paying attention, this hawk flew down into the middle of this flock of sparrows, and they just took off. Unfortunately, many of them flew into the window. Ironically, we have hawk shaped decals in that window to prevent birds from flying into it by accident. This was pure reflex on their part, and they didn't have time to notice any decals - they just wanted to escape the hawk. I don't know if the hawk got any birds.

Sally

I know Crows gotta eat - but hearing the bunny scream and watching the mom fight was a bit much for me.

That would be rough. and I'd hate to hear and see that, too.

Sally

TGL -
"The mother bunny was running behind him on her hind legs trying to hit the crow." Now THAT would be something to see!
An injured bunny scream IS awful!!
J.D.

I've heard many a bunny scream. awful. The thing with the mother rabbit would be a bit much to take. Luckily, they breed like rabbits and there are more to come.

The natural world is all around you, and it is one of survival. Yet, most people do not recognize it as a normal occurance.

You might feel better to know that the main food source for raptors is mice and rats. (Raptors includes hawks, owls, eagles, falcons, osprey, etc.) Pigeons are also a favorite target of some raptors.

All in all, you should not have too much concern for any predators other than the human ones. They are the most prevalent and the most vicious of all.

Rick, are you absolutely sure they eat pigeons? I sure wish they'd pick up the pace! And add sparrows and starlings to the mix whilst they're at it. Wouldn't grumble if they ate more doves and grackles, come to think of it.

I think only the young ones eat birds. They get too hungry trying to catch real food. I haven't seen "my" hawk attack smaller birds - but I've seen it the other way round.

TGL, I have seen the big red tail hawk swoop down for tiny birds --- it just depends on their available food supply. I even had a road runner jump in the air and catch a flying small bird when it was so dry here. These guys do what they have to do to survive. It is the balance of nature - I just do not want to witness it.

Peregrine Falcons are fond of pigeons. Not as many of those in this area, as you might like, though.

Peregrines are very fast attackers, and can way out fly the pigeons, so the pigeons are easy targets.

Owls are especically good for rodent control. They are rather unique, in they fly silently, and in the dark they can attack before the rodent knows they are there. (Owls see especially well at night.)

Hawks and eagles are less discriminating, and will eat anything from fish, to snakes.

Osprey are great fishers, and keep the waterways cleaned up, especially after the bears have been fishing.

Vultures are pretty much the garbage disposals of nature, as they clean up road kill, remnants left by other predators, etc. (Ugly but beneficial.)

In that same vein, foxes and coyotes also clean up after other predators are done. Not much goes to waste in the natural environment.

The main natural predators dangerous to man, in the US, are bears, and cougars, followed by lynx, and bobcat. The smaller cats are usually only dangerous if acosted. There has never been a recorded verified attack on a human by a wolf, anywhere in the world, in spite of the fear humans have of wolves. Feral hogs are also dangerous to people. Of course poisonous snakes are dangerous, but most of those will go their own way, if you give them room. Only copperheads and water moccasins are known to be aggressive with people, in the US. (There are some nasties in other countries, of course.)

Naturally, with all the exotics being kept in the US by people, tigers, lions, apes, and other dangerous critters, can always be a possibility. Somebody's kangeroo got loose in Indiana, over the past few days. Unfortunately, loose animals usually end up dead, because people are so afraid of loose animals, that they shoot them.

The Hawk is a symbol of power, vision, and guardianship, among Native Americans.

On a recent trip to OKC, I felt content, in that hawks watched over my trip, all the way.

Your perspective of the creatures of the natural environment, is clouded, if you are a city dweller. City folk lose their "connection" to their brothers in the wild, and fear them, when there is really little to fear.

You are in much more danger of attack, by dogs, walking down the sidewalk, in the city, than by the creatures of the wild. Dogs are very territorial, and will attack strangers approaching their territory. They are also dangerous when they roam in packs.

Of course the king of predators, is man. Humans are the most to be feared, of any animal.

It pains me to say, but I totally agree with your last statement, Rick !!!

I don't know why, but the last 2 times in as many days that I've tried to respond on this thread, my comment has just disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle or something.

Today, from inside my house, I heard the same screaming. Stepping out on my front walk, I could tell it was up in my pine tree. Look as I might, I could not see the hawk, but there was a ton of noise and commotion up there. I think I saw some grackles and some bluejays hoppping around, and I still wasn't positive there was even a hawk up there, despite the screams (not being a bird expert, I don't know the calls for certain). I thought maybe it was the blue jays screaming.

This time I had the camera. i took a step onto the grass under the trees to aim for a better vantage point, but before I could do anything else, a HUGE (wide wingspan) bird flapped out of the tree, away from me and my house, and flew off into the distance. With him flew at least two smaller birds (same as last time). He didn't seem to be chased by them. They seemed to be companions? wingmen? LOL I dont' know.

Anyway, I stupidly was trying to turn on my camera although it was already on and I didn't get a picture.

I'm marvelling at the fact that this large bird can hide itself in the trees so well. This is the second time I was certain of it's location in a particular tree but still could not see it.

Anyway, I think it's pretty cool!

Very cool! Crows are also surprisingly large, and they can make the most interesting noises! Of course, they are very black so you probably wouldn't mistake a crow for a hawk.

I'm certain it was not a crow. It was not black; it had light colored wing feathers. Also, it had the huge slow-beating flap that a large bird of pray has when they are getting going (they don't flap much at all once they are sailing). It was an amazing sight, and of course now I am dying to get a picture so I hope it comes back!! LOL

Once it flapped away, a number of doves returned to the tree. I could see a nest up there (there are probably several, as dove eggs and even babies are always falling out of the trees into the lawn).

What I don't understand was the commotion caused by all the other birds hopping around up there while the big bird (some type of bird of prey, I'm not going to swear it was a hawk but I just assume it is most likely) was doing whatever he was doing. Why wouldn't the grackles be afraid of him??

Could have been an owl too. Smaller birds will ferociously defend their territory and nests. I've seen mockingbirds actually HIT a hawk on the back while chasing them. I guess the little, quick birds can outmanuever the big guys in a tight fight.
j.d.

doh, correction on that: bird of *prey.* I was up too late on this forum last night! LOL

A hawk ate my dog today

That has to be heartbreaking.

I am truly sorry and can realate to the hawk threat. I don't know where you live, but I am in North Texas north of Dallas in a rural community and there are many hawks around. I have two Yorkies, and cannot let them go outside unattended. I scan the trees for the hawks before I allow them to go out. Even then, one will occasionally get past me and I have to hurry back in and try to chase him off. They may be endandered in some areas, but most certainy not around where I live.
Again, my heart goes out to you.

We have a red barred hawk that lives behind our house. She likes to sit on a tree over my worm bin. There are always little skinks and lizards around it. I swear it can see me through the windows of my house, but it will usually not spook.

The coolest thing I ever saw was at my old house. This little tiny hawk, maybe 12" high max came swooping down and did a complete 360 as it tried to grab a sparrow out of the air. Just amazing how they can manuever in the air. Beautiful.

A good reason to have larger dogs out in the country. I saw a small chihuahua carried away from my friends neighbors house . A friend from the city was visiting. It was very dramatic. Screeching and barking and lady screaming and running after the bird. July 4th on the Frio River. The bird headed for the hills and that woman got all scratched up in the cedar thickets. She finally gave up. She came back, got in her car with her other chihuahua and did not stay for the fireworks.